SOC: Huskers rally to rumble past Purdue 3-2 in overtime

Husker Sami Reinhard opened the scoring when she notched her second goal of the year in the 19th minute.

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Scoring Summary

19′ – NU – Reinhard (2)

48′ – NU – Brandt (4)

53′ – PUR – Williams (10)

56′ – PUR – Petrina (7)

97′ – NU – Huber (7)

Attn: 392

Story by Pat Radigan

Corn Fed Sports

Huskers rally for winner after Purdue pushes it to extra time

Purdue needed just three minutes to erase a two-goal lead for the Nebraska soccer team and send the game to extra time knotted at 2-2.

Nebraska did the Boilermakers one better, though, when NU took less than a minute to turn a dramatic offside call into a game winner and hand the Huskers a crucial Big Ten win.

Elyse Huber scored her 7th goal of the year to allow Nebraska to sneak out all three points on Thursday and move NU to within a point of 5th-place Purdue in the conference standings. Things didn’t look good for Nebraska when Purdue quickly erased a 2-0 lead in the second half, but the Huskers found a footing, and swung back to derail the Boilermakers at home.

The momentum shifted drastically over the 90 minutes of regulation, but it was the final free fall of the emotional rollercoaster that got the Huskers to the finish line.

Purdue won a free kick deep in NU territory, and sent a curling ball toward the far post off the set piece. The ball was headed back toward the goal, and bounced over the head of Husker keeper Aubrei Corder, who was tangled with a Purdue attacker, before it was headed in by a different Boilermaker.

As Purdue starting celebrating, the flag went up on the far sideline, and after a quick conference the player who kept Corder busy on the first header was deemed offside, and the goal was called back.

Nebraska quickly moved the ball up the field, and eventually Meg Brandt beat a defender near the midfield line and found space along the right flank. Brandt brought the ball deep into the box before whipping a cross back across the face of the goal. Huber was one of two Huskers available in the box, and calmly tapped in the finish to end the game with a golden goal in the 97th minute.

This was the fifth time Nebraska had been pushed to extra time this season, but Huber’s score secured the Huskers’ first overtime win of the year.

Nebraska opened the scoring with a bang in the 19th minute off of a free kick from just outside of the penalty area. Brenna Ochoa and Haley Hanson stood over the ball, with Reinhard a few feet behind. Ochoa started the sequence with a touch on the ball and Hanson stopped the slow roll to set it up for the shot.

With a Purdue defender rushing the ball, Reinhard got her shot off from about 25 yards out. The ball had enough velocity to soar past the reach of the keeper, but was hit with enough spin to curl the effort under the bar and in for Reinhard’s second goal of the year.

Brandt doubled the lead two minutes into the second half with an impressive individual effort. Haley Hanson lofted the ball in toward Brandt, which allowed the speedy sophomore to settle it, and make a run toward the box with the ball at her feet. Brandt sidestepped a defender with a couple of quick touches, found space inside the top of the box and slotted her shot past the keeper and into the side netting for her fourth goal of the year.

With everything going in NU’s favor, a penalty kick quickly turned the tide in the 53rd minute.

As Purdue’s Maddy Williams received the ball in the box, Nebraska’s Caroline Buelt stepped to try and win the ball, but was called for a foul when Williams fell to the ground. Williams took the penalty, and Corder got a touch on the shot, but it wasn’t enough to keep it out.

The momentum swung in Purdue’s favor with the goal, and it didn’t take long for the Boilermakers to turn that energy into an equalizer.

An attempted cross left the ball rolling freely just outside of Nebraska’s penalty area, when Purdue’s Maddy Duncan won a loose ball and turned toward goal. She found teammate Andrea Petrina, who had been left open at the top of the box in the scramble, and Petrina hardly hesitated in turning and firing a shot into the corner and past Corder.

That comeback would be erased by Huber’s goal, though, as Nebraska reached its magic number to get the win. The win moves the Huskers to 9-2-3 (3-1-3) on the year, with 8 of the 9 wins, and all of NU’s Big Ten wins, coming when Nebraska scores 3 goals.

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